It has been announced that Princess Anne will officially open the new Accident & Emergency department at Leicester Royal Infirmary. John Adler, chief executive of Leicester’s hospitals, said: “The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is pleased to confirm that HRH The Princess Royal, Patron of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, will formally open our new emergency department at the Leicester Royal Infirmary on Wednesday, March 7.”

The department has been in use since just after its completion in May of last year, and indeed 2017 was one which saw numerous members of the Royal Family visiting the Leicester area. Including Her Majesty, The Queen, and Duke of Edinburgh distributing Maundy money at the Cathedral, Prince Charles visiting the Great Central Railway and Prince Harry visiting several local organisations. As yet, no firm details have been announced regarding the itinerary of the visit, but be sure to keep an eye on Royal Central and we will publish further information as soon as we are advised of it.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is one of the newest Royal Colleges and shows how the United Kingdom is actually one of the leading countries in emergency medicine, alongside America, Canada and Australia. The College in its current form was set up by royal charter in 2008; however, it has only been allowed to use the Royal prefix since 2015, with Princess Anne as its Royal Patron.

The Princess Royal is not only one of the busiest royals, but has several patronages within the field of medicine and caring for people. She is a Royal Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and has undertaken many visits as Commandant-in-Chief of St John Ambulance Cadets, and Patron of the St Andrew’s Ambulance in Scotland. Princess Anne also initiated the Princess Royal Trust for Carers in 1991.